Unwelcome Cats

[ehrycan]

We have had a catflap installed for our two male cats (both just over a year old and neutered) for about six months now.

In the last couple of weeks there have been a few unwelcome visitors making use of the cat flap.

On one occasion last week I had to do battle with a hissing, scratching moggy who had decided to come in the house and have a sleep in the kitchen whilst our two useless cats just sat there watching uninterestedly instead of helping me defend the territory!

And to make matters worse, most mornings we get up to a foul smelling house where the neighbourhood cat or cats have decided to mark thier territory inside our house!

We've tried locking the cat flap in the evening but all we get is our cats scratching at the catflap to go out because they go out every night, so that's a no go.

We're also considering getting a magnetic cat flap which allows only our cats in, but before we do that, we were wondering if anyone else can think of any other ways to stop this problem.

Thanks

[logman]

My brother told me he had a similar problem and managed to combat it with the use of pass cards in the form of micro chips attached to the collars..

[andrewlee]

I had this problem and replaced my cat flap with one which has a magnetic device which only allowsmy cat in. It works with a battery, and the cat wears a small magnet attached to its collar.

However, there is a persistent would-be visitor who shoots in with my cat before the flap locks shut!

[~Wingnut~]

Alas we had the same problem, our neighbours decided it was cute to have 13 kittens/young cats but to not have them in their house! so we use to find their cats in our house all the time, even found one asleep in our daughter's bed once! The only way we stopped it was to buy a magnetic catflap I'm afraid, def worth the money.

[meltoadhall]

we have three cats and had the same prob. like the others we had to get a magnetic flap with the tags on the collars. the other option is to put the cat flap on out only so no cats can get in.

[clairelb]

We had exactly the same problem recently. There's absolutely nothing you can do to deter other cats coming into your home other than as you've suggested, changing the catflap.

Rather than going for a magnetic cat flap, we've gone for an infrared one where the collar only works for that particular cat flap - magnetic collars generally work on any magnetic catflap so if your intruder is wearing a magnetic collar, it'll still come in. It costs a fortune, but worth it to stop the awful smell that intruders bring with them.

[RosieT]

Can I ask Clairelb where she got her infrared cat flap from and if they do them for large cats? I was about to buy a magnetic one to stop a visiting cat leaving its scent but the infrared type sound even better.